PREPS PLUS. On Northwest.

Fremd Duo To Expand Soccer Horizons In French Tourney

January 10, 1997|By Reid Hanley.

Last year all John Tomaino and Doug Warren received for making the U.S. Youth Soccer Association national 16-and-under team was a piece of paper. This year the Fremd sophomores get a chance to experience international competition at the elite level.

Tomaino, a midfielder, and Warren, a goalkeper, were selected to the 18-player team that will play in the Montceau Tournament in France in March. Last year's team didn't travel or compete, but this year the squad will play in the tournament featuring teams from 31 countries. Each team will play at least seven games.

Although Tomaino and Warren didn't travel with the national team, they did go to England with the Chicago Sockers Football Club last year. That experience has them eager for their March 19 departure.

"International soccer is so much different than club soccer or high school soccer here," Warren said. "It's played at a so much higher level. Everything is faster and the players are so much better. You really have to prepare for it."

The atmosphere is also different. Soccer is said to be the world's game, and America hasn't quite caught the fever. The competition for sports attention in other countries is not nearly as fierce as it is in the U.S. That is one reason the game is No. 1 in the rest of the world.

"We went to two pro games while we were in England," Tomaino said. "Everything in the entire town stops. Everyone is up for soccer. Here we have a big football season with the Bears, then it's the Bulls. There are no other sports there to share time with. It's soccer all year around."

The two were among five Illinois players chosen for the 16-and-under team. Peter Christofilakos of Springfield, Adam Hitchman of Waubonsie Valley and Kevin Wickart of Naperville were also selected.

There was a three-step tryout process for the team starting on the state level. The top 18 players from the state tryout advanced to the regional, where another cut was made to 14. Four regions met in Cocoa Beach, Fla., for the national tryouts.

At the national tryouts, the teams trained and competed. A panel of coaches picked the top 18 players to go to France for the junior version of the World Cup.

Tomaino and Warren have been playing soccer since they were in grade school and have been playing together since 7th grade.

"It will be more fun because we get to share the honor," Warren said. "We're best friends. It's just fun to play with someone from your own team. It's always more fun when you know someone."

The team won't meet to practice until it arrives in Paris. After a couple of days of workouts, it will move to the tournament site, 230 miles from Paris, for the competition. That means Tomaino and Warren will have to arrive in shape.

That shouldn't be a problem. Soccer has been a year-round activity for both. They have club practice almost every night and indoor games three days a week.

Tomaino manages to stay in soccer shape even though he's playing basketball on the Fremd sophomore team. It just means he is late for soccer practice and missed a few games while trying out for the national team.

"I've always played basketball and have always liked it, too," said Tomaino, who balanced soccer with a basketball league last summer. "Hopefully, I'll always play as long as I can. If there is a conflict, I don't know what I'd do. Hopefully, I can continue to play basketball in the winter."

Warren doesn't particularly like indoor soccer and doesn't play in goal full time. He keeps his skills sharp by playing other positions and drilling.

Making the national team is a step in the direction both players want to take. College soccer is another level they want to reach, and maybe even professional soccer, which is trying to establish itself in this country.

"I want to play at the highest level I can," Warren said. "Playing internationally is another step up. It should be a great experience to play against the best in the world. I hope it gives me a taste of how it feels to be at that level."

Tomaino and Warren won't be the only beneficiaries of the trip. Fremd coach Jerry Pagnani, whose squad graduates one player from a 15-4 team that won the Mid-Suburban North title, thinks his entire program will get better because of the experience.

"It's a great honor for them and a great honor for Fremd to have two players on the national team," he said. "When you play against better competition, you get better. These kids will get better and they will make the kids around them get better. We have a very young team, and we should have a very, very strong team the next two years. This is going to be a great help for all of us."